MPEV news conference planned for Wednesday

A news conference regarding a Multipurpose Event Venue (MPEV) with a ballpark as its centerpiece is scheduled for 11:15 a.m. Wednesday.

The gathering will come one day after an Amarillo City Council meeting in which a lease agreement and negotiations with a possible tenant is scheduled to be discussed in executive session.

The news conference also comes two weeks after City Council and Amarillo Local Government Corp. meeting agendas showed executive session discussions of the same.

“The LGC, city staff and the council are working diligently to pursue the best opportunities for Amarillo with regard to the MPEV,” Amarillo Mayor Ginger Nelson said.

The venue is part of a three-piece downtown catalyst project that includes the Embassy Suites hotel and a 750-car parking garage.

Work has yet to begin on a baseball-centered MPEV, which has been projected to cost as much as $45.5 million. If built, it is tentatively set to be located directly south of City Hall along South Buchanan Street.

In a nonbinding referendum in November 2015, Amarillo voters narrowly approved the construction of what was then a $32 million facility, 52 percent to 48 percent. It was approved by 820 votes out of 22,000 cast. The previous council approved the building of the MPEV, funded by hotel occupancy taxes, later that month.

On Tuesday, the council will also have the first reading of an ordinance amending parking fees for the parking garage. The 225-room Embassy Suites is expected to open this summer.

Wednesday’s news conference will be held in the new Xcel Energy building at 790 S. Buchanan St.